7

Final Touches

IT WAS STILL dark when Mary’s mother dropped the girls off at Lucky Foot Stable the next morning. She gave them a hug for good luck and three paper sacks (one each for Mary and Jody, and one for Willie) filled with goodies for lunch. When they entered the stable and turned on the light, Star raised his head and blinked sleepily, swiveling his ears and cocking his head as if to say, “What in the world are you doing here so early?” From his perch on the top board of Lady’s stall, Colonel Sanders shook his head and flapped his wings indignantly. Then, in protest of the early hour, he stretched out his neck, opened his beak to the ceiling, and crowed over and over again.

“Alright, alright, Colonel, we hear you. We’re awake already,” Mary said, covering her ears. “Star, how would you like a treat to start off your big day?”

Mary took a shiny red apple from her lunch bag and twisted it in her hands until it split in half. She held one half between her front teeth and offered the other half to Star on the flat of her palm. Star sniffed the treat for only an instant before taking the whole thing in his mouth and chewing hungrily, apple juice dripping from his lips.

“Mare, I don’t think your mom packed that apple for Star to eat,” Jody giggled.

“It’s OK,” Mary slurped. She took the apple half from between her clenched teeth and held it out to Jody. “I only wanted half anyway. Want a bite?” she offered.

“No, thanks, I have my own,” Jody replied. “We’d better get Star out and get him ready for his bath. Willie will be here before you know it.”

“I know. I’m so glad he doesn’t have to milk this morning and can come to the show with us!”

“We ain’t gonna git to the show if you two don’t quit gabbin’ and get that colt washed,” Willie said, appearing suddenly in the open doorway.

“Willie! You’re early, aren’t you?” Jody said, leading Star from his stall. Before Willie could reply, Mary groaned at the sight of the right side of Star’s body, only then fully visible in the fluorescent light of the aisle.

“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “Star, what have you done?”

Willie hobbled around to the side in question while Jody turned Star’s head to the left so she could get a good look. Then it was her turn to moan in dismay. Almost the entire right side of Star’s body from front leg to back was covered with a greenish-brown stain that could only have been acquired by the tired colt lying down in his stall overnight in a fresh pile of manure.

“Willie! What are we going to do?” wailed Jody. “We’ll never get that cleaned off in time for the show!”

“If you quit your whinin’ and gather up some rags we will. Mary, git a lead rope and git him over to the milk house where we can hook up some warm water,” Willie ordered. “Why do you think I had you two git up here so early? Just in case somethin’ like this happened.”

Jody grabbed the horse shampoo, two scrubby mitts, and a handful of rags the girls had cut from old towels and followed Mary and Star up the gravel driveway. By the time they reached the milk house, Willie was standing outside the door with a hose and spray nozzle hooked up to the warm water spigot and was testing the water temperature on his open palm.

Star cocked his head and peered warily at the gentle spray, sidestepping and almost landing on Mary’s foot.

“Star, please behave. You’ve had baths before,” Mary pleaded.

“Just hold him still and let me get him used to the spray first,” Willie instructed. Mary turned Star in a circle and led him as close to the hose as she could. Willie sprayed water on the grass in a circle in front of Star and then slowly moved the spray closer and closer until it played around Star’s hooves. Star snorted and stomped at the water but didn’t try to move from Mary’s grasp. The sun was just beginning to cast its light on the day as Willie moved the warm spray gently up Star’s front legs. When the water reached his chest, he lowered his head and opened his mouth to the spray, then lifted his muzzle to the sky and raised his lip as horses do when they smell something funny.

“Well, I guess he’s not scared of it,” Willie chuckled. “Jody, git a bucket from the milk house and fill it up with warm water, and git your shampoo and scrubbers ready. I’ll finish wettin’ him down in the meantime.”

Jody was back in an instant with the bucket of warm water, carefully setting it down on the dewy grass. She picked up one of the scrubby mitts and put it on over her hand.

“OK, Jody, get some of that shampoo on the mitt and just start scrubbin’ in a circle, first on his shoulder, and keep rinsin’ out your mitt, especially when you hit the green spots,” Willie instructed.

“Oh, Willie can I scrub, too?” pleaded Mary. Willie silently took the lead rope from Mary’s hand and watched as the girls scrubbed in circles, rinsing their mitts in the bucket and replenishing the shampoo each time. Soon Star was a big greenish soapy mess, but he seemed to be enjoying himself, stretching out his front legs and nipping playfully at the girls as they scrubbed.

“OK, Willie, time to rinse him off,” Mary announced, standing back to admire their soaping job. But before she could take the rope from Willie’s hand, Star planted his feet, snorted once, and shook himself heartily, showering the girls and Willie from head to toe with greenish soapsuds.

Star shook himself heartily, showering the girls and Willie from head to toe with greenish soapsuds.

“Daggone ornery bugger!” Willie shouted, wiping the soap from his face. Mary and Jody dissolved in a fit of giggles when Willie picked up the hose and began to squirt Star with it, not nearly so gently this time.

“Willie! He didn’t mean it!” Mary laughed, shaking her hands to get the soap off.

“Quit yer gigglin’ and go get a sweat scraper so we can get this extra water off. Get a tail comb too. And Jody, git yer rags ready to give him a good rubdown. Looks like most of the manure stains came off,” Willie said, continuing the spray over Star’s back and down his hind legs until the foam completely disappeared. Star arched his back at the feel of the water and stretched out his front legs like a dog enjoying a good scratching, clearly enjoying his bath.

Mary returned with the metal sweat scraper and Jody stepped up with a terry cloth rag in each hand. Without a word Mary applied the blunt-edged scraper to Star’s neck and moved downward to his shoulder and then along his barrel and belly, “scraping” the excess water from his coat as she went. Jody followed close behind with the rags, rubbing vigorously in a circular motion until her rags were sopping wet and she had to go for more. Willie watched in silence, Star’s lead rope in hand, and Star stretched out his neck as though this was his day at the spa. When Mary reached Star’s tail, she put down the sweat scraper and picked up the plastic tail comb, running it through the wet tangles until they were all smoothed out. Jody wrung out her last rag and gently wiped Star’s nostrils and the corners of his eyes.

“Well, he looks a lot better than he did a half hour ago,” Willie observed dryly. “Walk him back over to the stable and keep him walkin’ in the sun until he dries some more. I’ll put the hose away and get the truck ready.”

Jody took the lead rope from Willie’s grasp, while Mary hung the wet rags over the fence to dry.

“Mare, don’t forget to gather up all the bathing supplies,” Jody called over her shoulder as she turned Star toward Lucky Foot Stable.

“Since when did I get to be the groom?” Mary muttered good-naturedly, gathering up the supplies as fast as she could and taking off at a trot to catch up to Jody and Star.

“I didn’t realize how sunny it is already,” Mary panted when she reached Star’s side. “Are we going to be late?”

The girls had been so busy working on Star that they hadn’t noticed how far the sun had risen and how quickly the morning was getting away from them.

“Willie, are we going to be late?” Jody called to Willie who was on the barn hill getting the truck ready for Star. “Is Star’s class in the very beginning of the day?”

“Close to, but we still have time. We won’t be as early as I wanted to be, but we’ll make it,” Willie called back, hobbling down the hill and casting a critical eye on Star’s gleaming coat. “I reckon he looks alright. But there’s one thing you forgot.”

Willie didn’t say any more; he just turned and walked back up the barn hill toward the truck. Mary and Jody looked at Star, then they looked at each other, then looked back at Star again, trying to remember what they had forgotten. Finally Jody’s eyes traveled to Star’s hooves.

“The hoof dressing!” Jody exclaimed. “Mare, can you get it out of the tack trunk? Oh, and we forgot to wrap his tail! The wrap is in the trunk too!”

Star stood perfectly still while the dressing was applied, and he only moved around a little while Mary wrapped his tail in a stretchy bandage to keep it clean. Then it was time to load.

Mary led Star to the barn hill where Willie had carefully backed the truck. Willie lowered the tailgate so that it was resting flat on the side of the hill, making a ramp for Star. The girls had practiced loading and unloading him—making sure he didn’t run away again—several times in the past week when he felt up to it. Now the open tailgate was a familiar sight, and Star walked easily into the pickup bed and dropped his head to eat the hay and grain placed there. Jody ran back into the stable to gather up her show clothes while Mary made one last inspection of the tack box to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything, and they were finally off to the show!